Going for Gold
by Crazy-Xylophone-Neko
Summary: Tino is finally getting the chance he has been waiting for. The London Olympics. His chance to take in the more glamerous side of an otherwise ordinary job. But, of course, the people and their hobbies are never quite how they seem... HUMAN AU. BASED AROUND THE OLYMPICS. LONG OVERDUE. SuFin. GerIta. Other pairings if you squint. Rated T for Hungary, Poland, Prussia and yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is pretty much what the summary says. It's based around Tino's foray into the world of high-end buisness and "patriotic troublemaking", and well as the odd hobbies of the rest of the world. And, of course, a little romance between he and Berwald.**

**Pairing wise, SuFin should be the only obvious one. GerIta is also mentioned, though only briefly. There may be a few others hinted, but I'm not quite there yet, and I'm trying not to make them too obvious.**

**HUMAN NAME NOTES: ERICA VOGEL (LIECHTENSTEIN). MATTHIAS DENSEN (DENMARK). LUKAS BONDEVIK (NORWAY). EIRíKUR "EIRíK" STEILSSON (ICELAND). THE REST ARE ALL CANON. ANY TRANSLATIONS ARE IN THE NOTES AT THE BOTTOM.**

**I DON'T OWN THESE GUYS! OBVIOUSLY! Otherwise you can be sure that there'd be a lot more random moments.**

**WARNING: Poland. His rambling. I swear, it was not my idea. My brain just took over. And yeah. Er... review?**

* * *

With the Olympics coming up, Tino was more than a little sure that he would have a lot of work to do. Being physiotherapist for the Finnish team meant he would need plenty of over-time to keep up with the athletes. And, as he headed towards the stadium for the first time, he knew that he would need plenty of over-time to keep up with the athletes. And, as he headed towards the stadium for the first time, he knew that nothing else in his life could have been that worth it.

Something told him that his expectations wouldn't be able to prepare him for what he saw.

And he was honestly right.

"It's huge..." he muttered, listening to the Estonian beside him laugh. Tino could understand why. That had to be the understatement of the year. It towered over both their heads, and while it wasn't as tall as some of buildings in the centre of the city, the amount of ground it covered easily made up for it.

"Just wait until you get inside," Eduard smirked. "The electronics are legendary."

Tino just rolled his eyes. Of course he would say that; he'd helped rig them up! Still, it would honestly be the highlight of both of their careers, so they couldn't help but feel proud.

"Are we meeting Raivis inside?" the older of the asked, to which Eduard nodded.

"Yes. He said that he and Toris - you remember him, don't you? We having seen him in years… Well, anyway, they have some last minute wires to fix."

The Finn frowned. "Nothing major, I hope."

Eduard grimaced slightly, his mind clearly running over the blueprints as they talked. "With this project, who knows? We're constantly behind, but maybe it'll all get started on time."

Tino paused, just before they arrived at security. "You don't think it will?"

Eduard simply presented their passes and identification to the blond security guard, who he addressed directly instead of answering the question. "Having a good night, Basch?"

The guard grunted, scowling at the two. His eyes crossed over them both quickly as he checked if they truly were who they said they were. "Strictly business tonight, Eduard. No small..." he paused as he glanced at Tino, "...talk..."

For a minute, Tino wondered whether it would be possible to be rejected from entering the grounds just because there were probably crumbs in the binding of his passport. It wasn't his fault! He hadn't exactly expected his lunch to open itself while in his bag… He barely heard his friend ask him about someone…

Luckily, he fears seemed unfound, as the guard handed over his ID and pass. He looked like he was about to say something to Tino – _'probably about the state of his passport,'_ he thought – when a small blonde girl appeared beside the other security guard, who was handing Eduard his documents.

"Speak of the devil!" Eduard said with a laugh and a smile, muttering a quick thank you as he walked past the man, gave the girl a greeting of "hello, Erica."

As Tino followed the technician, he was sure the girl gave a small wave, before turning back to her partner.

Tino, impatient as ever, just frowned. "You still haven't answered my question, Eduard."

The other sighed. It was rather obvious that whatever complicated thing he'd been asked to do was causing him problems. "Maybe... There are still a lot of things that we need to do. I'm not sure whether we'll manage it. Maybe if-"

"EDUARD!"

The Estonian turned around in panic, before smiling. "Oh. Raivis. You gave me a shock, for a minute. What are you looking so worried about?"

The young-looking blond, however, seemed to be in a complete panic. "Toris and I can- can't figure out wh- what's the matter with th- the wiring! A-and we need- it- it needs- it needs fixing now!"

"Relax! I'm sure we can fix it, well before the Opening Ceremony. There's still plenty of time.

_'Eduard von Bock,' _Tino thought, _'you little liar. You don't think that way at all.' _Still, it was pretty understandable that he had developed such a skill for lying. With an adoptive brother like Raivis, who spent most of his life panicking thanks to what Tino suspected was severe PTSD; it was only natural that he'd developed an acute ability to use his words as a method of calming the other. He was an intelligent man, and he cared greatly for his difficult brother. And, Raivis was difficult. The smallest thing was set him off, and Eduard was always complaining that he was never calm down. Not on his own, at least.

A hand on his shoulder made Tino jump. Two worried blue eyes filled his vision, before bursting into laughter. "Relax, Raivis! He's just zoned out for a little while," Eduard pointed out, before focusing once again on the Finn. "Look, we need to go and sort this out. Will you be alright?"

Tino nodded. "Of course. I need to find either the team of the other physios, anyway."

There wasn't a forced goodbye with words to address their parting; simply a single nod of the head and the two were gone, leaving the Finn there to figure out where everyone was.

He had to admit, there was something to be said for arriving earlier than necessary. Hardly anyone was around, and the peace of the situation calmed the nerves he knew would appear before the 'big debut', where the teams would be presented to the world. He hated being the centre of attention, especially at big events where people expected everyone to look and act perfect, and represent something huge, and... And... And...

Thousands of people - millions - would soon be directed towards them very soon.

Violet eyes slammed shut, and emotions suddenly grew much stronger. As he moved, he could feel the tightening in his stomach that indicated his nerves. His mind whirred.

_'Oh, God. This is actually happening. I don't even-'_

There was a thump, as a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist and, for a moment, they were the only thing keeping Tino upright. He could feel his own heartbeat, and what he hoped_ wasn't_ the other persons, pounding through his chest and mind.

Then he opened his eyes.

The man was taller than him, which wasn't unusual for the five foot seven Tino, with short blond hair and blue eyes. Something about his looks made the fine terrified, and when the man spoke in swift Scandinavian, his nerves seemed to boil more.

Then the taller man grinned, throwing his head back slightly in a loud laugh, before taking a step away from the Finn. "I don't dink you could understand me, no?"

Tino just shook his head, not sure what else to do.

"'m Matthias. 'am the physio for the Danish team."

Oh. So this was one of the physios he had yet to meet. He'd already met most of them, from wondering around the Athlete's Village, and the grounds surrounding the stadium. After all, he had no problem being sociable. Except, maybe right now, with a grinning maniac having cornered him.

"Tino Väinämöinen. I'm-"

"Ah, you're Finnish, right? Does that mean you've heard of me?" he asked, looking thrilled at the prospect. Or, at least, Tino thought he was. With someone like that insane-looking, it was hard to tell.

Before he had the chance to decide whether to answer 'no', or ask where the other man how he had known he was Finnish, someone else decided for him.

"No one's heard of you, Matthias. That's the point."

The voice sounded bitter and condescending. Tino tried never to judge, but he didn't like it.

Matthias glanced over Tino's shoulder, his grin going even wider. Trying to follow his gaze, Tino had to glance over his own shoulder, almost twisting his own neck at an awkward angle.

Behind him were three men. Two of them wore suits - clearly dignitaries - one bearing a small gold cross-pin - reminiscent of the silver necklace Tino often wore - the other one with an Icelandic flag on his lapel. Both must have been younger than Tino, is he could have guessed, perhaps significantly in the case of the latter. For all Tino could have guessed, he would have said he was the same age as Raivis, thereabouts.

And the third man... well, he was a sight.

Dressed in blue overalls that weirdly matched the colour of his rectangular glasses and navy blue eyes, he towered a good few inches above even the Danish man. His face was stern, and Tino couldn't understand how someone so threatening could look so at ease surrounded by people who were clearly so much younger than him, and so very placid.

Matthias, however, didn't seem to find it odd.

"Pssh, everyone's heard of me - don' be stupid, Lukas."

Lukas - or, rather, the man Tino assumed was Lukas - turned to the Finn with a frown, completely ignoring his hyperactive friend. "So, what did he tell you? That he was a physiotherapist? Don't listen to him. He can't even name the organs of the body-"

"I can too!" Matthias countered with a whine, reminding Tino of a small child who'd just been told they couldn't do something. "There's the lungs, and the heart, and the brain, and the... er... the stomach! And the... the skin... A-"

"The skin's not an organ," Lukas snapped.

"Yes it is!" the Dane argued, pretty much voicing Tino's thoughts, even though he was pretty sure that Matthias had only said it because he lacked other things to say.

"Don't be ridiculous-"

"Can you two stop bickering for a moment?" the other dignitary cut him off with a sigh, rolling his eyes. "Can't you see your making him uncomfortable?"

The other two stopped, mid-quarrel, and Tino felt sorry for whoever was on the receiving end of that comment. That was, until he realised that four sets of strikingly similar eyes were focusing on one particular person.

Oh... They meant him...

With the blood rushing to his face, Tino doubted he could feel any more self conscious. "Oh, no, I'm fine," he said, forcing a little laugh at the end. "However, I really must be going..."

Pushing himself to scarper, he could hear Matthias' raucous laughter following him. "Awh, he looked so scared! Tha- Ow! Berwald, wha-"

He chose not to hear the rest as kept moving away from the Scandinavian group.

That was hell. Complete and utter hell. He was half tempted to thank whatever god was looking out for him, that he had bumped into the person he did. A close friend of a close friend of Eduard's, and someone the Finn had met many times before, on their nights of just sitting around gossiping like a group of old women. Because the small group of friends had known each other for years, and with the edition of other, newer people, there was never a lack of anything to talk about.

But as much as he was thankful for having someone else to talk to, rather than the Scandinavian men he was currently avoiding, Tino wasn't sure this conversation was quite what he wanted.

"So, I was telling Elizabeta – you are listening, right, Tino? – I was telling her that we totally, like, have to get ourselves off to this adorable little French café we found in the centre of town. I mean, the owner is, like, a total flirt, but he's also completely _gorgeous_, so it doesn't, like, matter… Seriously, Tino! Are you even listening?"

The Finn snapped his head upwards, glancing towards the ever sassy Pole. "Yes, I am."

"Who's Elizabeta?"

"The Hungarian designer you've been working with."

Tino didn't react, but he could see the other man blinking in confusion. "I do listen sometimes, Feliks."

Instead of giving what could have been called a 'valid response', the Polish designer chose a much more… interesting route. "You only know who she is because you like her."

He spluttered slightly in response. "Excuse me?"

Feliks just nodded. "Yeah. It's, like, totally obvious. I mean, Hungarian is meant to be like Finnish, right? It's not wonder you, like, want her."

"How is the fact Hungarian and Finnish are both Finno-Uralic languages got anything to do with this?"

Feliks shook his head. "Now, now, Tino. That's, like, totally not cool."

Instead of arguing back, Tino just sighed, wondering how long it would take for his Polish friend to realise that he had never, in fact, met the woman. "Didn't you say she already had a boyfriend, anyway?"

"Oh, well…" Feliks started, before frowning, "there is Roderich… But I'm pretty sure she hasn't spoken to him in months. Mind, if that's true, you'll have to be quick about it! 'Cause, Gilbert will, like, be totally all over her."

"…Gilbert?" Tino asked in confusion.

"Oh, totally," the Pole nodded, before stopping his speech completely, obviously not getting what the Finn meant.

"… Who's Gilbert?"

Feliks smacked him on the arm. "Oh, you should have told me that you, like, didn't know! I would have told you!" _Well, I tried to, _Tino thought to himself. "Gilbert is, like, the German designer. He thinks he's, like, totally awesome. I don't know why. He has, like, no fashion sense; like, _at all_," he huffed, annoyance written clear across his features as if her were a teenager. "The only use he has is Liz riled up and making her, like, work harder." Then, suddenly, his face lit up. "Mind, I'm, like, totally glad his brother is here. Some fine muscles on that one."

Tino coughed slightly, feeling his cheeks heat up at the very blunt comment. "B- brother?"

Feliks still looked out of it. "Yes, Ludwig. Why?"

Tino shrugged. "I wasn't aware he had a brother."

"Yes, he does… Also, I'm going to ask Elizabeta out for you when we, like, get to the meeting room."

He spluttered slightly. "Excuse me?"

The Pole just smiled gleefully. "The two of you would make such a cute couple! Personally I think that you should totally ask her. Or I, like, will!"

"I don't think… Never mind…"

"You need to, like, loosen up a little, Tino! Maybe I should be trying to find you someone to totally have a good time with, instead of an actual date, like…"

The Finn could have face-palmed right then and there. The green-eyed man just shook his head with a sigh. Tino chose not to approach the subject. He was pretty sure the gossip beside him didn't understand the term 'decency'.

Still, when the man to his left pushed open a door, revealing what appeared to be a conference room, he was mildly surprised. The woman at the opposite side of the room must have been a good few years older than him, though possibly a little shorter, it was hard to tell when she was sitting down. Brown hair, green eyes, orange flower… Cute, he supposed, but that was pretty much it.

She glanced up with a smile. "Hello, Feliks! And this must be Tino," a smile crossed her lips. "I'm Eliza-"

Feliks, however, cut her off.

"Elizabeta, what are you, like, drinking?" the Pole said in disgust as he looked into the plastic cup in front of her.

The Hungarian frowned, also glancing at her drink. "It's called water."

He huffed. "Well I know that!" The level of contempt in his voice was unparalleled. Not that Tino could figure out why.

"Then why did you ask?" she said with a smirk, watching as the other man splutter in annoyance.

"But, _why_?"

She purposefully took a sip from the cup, almost as if she was toying with the Polish man. Then she said one thing, as if it was the simplest in the world.

"Arthur broke the coffee machine."

Tino blinked for a minute. "How can you break a coffee machine."

Elizabeta shrugged. "No idea. All I know if that he's now banned from using it."

"I totally don't blame you," Feliks said with a grimace.

"I don't blame myself either, darling," she agreed, taking another sip, before grimacing. "Urgh. Work like this needs coffee to fuel it."

Feliks hummed in agreement, glancing towards the sheets. However, once he saw it, he went red and looked away "I can imagine."

Tino paused, tilting his head to one side. Giving the Hungarian a smile, he asked, "what are you working on, if you don't mind me asking?"

Elizabeta just grinned back. "Oh, nothing related to these wonderful games. More of a… personal project," she explained, before adding. "The anatomy is probably a little wrong, though. I can't say I get many volunteers to model for me. Still want to see?" she asked at the end.

When Tino nodded, she slid a few pieces of paper across for him to see, and the Finn took them with a gracious smile. It was ever so nice of her to show him these, especially as she hardly…

Two violet eyes connected with the picture on the paper, and blood rushed to his cheeks. Ah. That was what Feliks meant.

Coughing slightly, he could almost feel the Hungarian smirking at him behind his back. Tino chose to allow the incriminating picture of the… er… two men, fall back to the table, picture facing downward, before he turned around. "If you want, I can go see if someone can be spared to fix the coffee machine for you? There's only a few hours left until the Opening Ceremony. They must be finished by now, right?" he laughed, not waiting for a reply as he pushed towards the door. He could just about hear Elizabeta laughing at him, as Feliks replied, "well done, Liz. You're never going to get a date with him now.

Then, as the door closed behind him, a distinct yell of "WHAT!" echoing through the slowly filling corridors.

Tino allowed himself a small laugh, in spite of himself. That was probably the most awkward first meeting he'd ever had, even topping the one with the four Scandinavians earlier that afternoon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all of your favourite/watches!**

**Bad chapter is bad. But the next is at least half written, and it'll hopefully be longer than this one when I'm finished with it. I really should have made the first two all one chapter. If you want more information (i.e. to bug me into writing more) I'd seriously consider my tumblr or deviantart. They should be on my profile~**

* * *

Honestly, Tino was rather surprised he'd even managed to get to the stadium. Somewhere in the back of his mind – that little negative bit he tried to ignore because it told him that also told him his passport could be revoked, and Moomins were for children – he was almost certain that what he was doing was bad; punishable, even.

Still, he'd much rather be berated by the blond security guard – or, better yet, his female companion (who looked a lot less threatening) – that stay in a room with what Eduard would probably call a 'yaoi fangirl'.

Apparently, being overly-exposed to the internet can cause such phrases to become part of the everyday vocabulary, and had nothing to do with why he spent so much time gazing at a computer screen.

Tino still wouldn't have asked.

Speaking of his bespectacled companion, it appeared that that obnoxious Dane from earlier had stolen a pair of glasses – if his annoying smirk was anything to go by – and they were almost identical to the rectangular ones that Eduard normally wore. In fact, he was pretty sure that they were Eduard's.

"Hey!" he called out, watching as the other man turned to grin at him.

"_Hej_," Matthias called back, the glasses perched awkwardly on his nose. Flashing the Finn a thumbs up, he asked, "are you alright? You're looking a bit frustrated."

Tino just shrugged, not sure where he was going with these. He really wished he was one of those people who thoughts things through before doing things.

"I didn't know you wore glasses, Matthias," he said. "When did you get those? They look a lot like some that belong to a friend of mine."

The Dane stuck his tongue out slightly, clearly not one for lying about his audacity. "Well, I didn't know you were his friend…"

"I suppose you wouldn't," Tino admitted, but he still put his hand out. "I'm sure Eduard wants them back, though."

"Edua-" Matthias started, faltering a minute before bursting out into an even wider – and creepier – grin. "Oh, sure. I get it. Eduardwants them back. Why did you say so! I was about to take them myself!" he laughed, tossing the rectangular lenses towards the blond. "See to it he gets them, alright? Because I found them in the hands of Berwald; you know, that frustrating Swede with the communication problems?" Tino nodded, though he had no idea who that was. "They're both probably looking for them, but make sure that you give them to _Eduard_."

The Finn nodded, before grasping the frames tightly to make sure he didn't drop them. "Sure, sure. I will make sure. _Kiitos_, Matthias. Thank you!"

"No problem, no problem," he said, not even faltering in his ever-happy act for a minute. "Just remember _not_ to tell Eduard that's where I got them from! The two of them are working together, and we wouldn't want any unnecessary drama between co-workers, right before the Opening Ceremony! That would be tragic," he said, shaking his head in an over-dramatic way that made Tino think that this man would be rather infuriating to spend any length of time with, if one did not have plenty of patience – something which he found to be one of his few good qualities.

"Alright," Tino said, moving to walk past the blond. "I won't. There's no point in causing unnecessary drama."

Matthias smirked. "No. Of course not."

The spiralling shape of the stadium seating arrangements meant that it was horribly awkward for Tino to get to any of the workers, never mind the one he was looking for. Despite having seen it from the outside, the Finn was now all too aware of the fact he had grossly underestimated how large the actual area was, and how long it would take to locate the one Estonian technician.

Elizabeta definitely wasn't going to be pleased. Neither was Feliks.

Dotted around the stadium, some even looked like vague blobs of colour, were various workmen. Some were fixing piping and setting up practical devices and what appeared to be decorative pieces, which Tino assumed were for the Opening Ceremony. Meanwhile, others were fixing individual wires between the chairs and on the stands.

Though, in retrospect, the small stature and jittery side-kick made Eduard easy to notice.

"Eduard!" Tino called, waving a hand containing the glasses as he hurried forward. "I found your-" The Finn froze as the other man turned round, revealing two pristine lenses over his green eyes. "… glasses…"

Eduard faltered slightly also, first at the sight of Tino, then at the sight of what was in his hand. "Where did you get those?"

Glancing down at the lenses, Tino frowned. "I - I thought they were yours…" he admitted, running a hand through the back of his hair, careful not to dislodge the beret he'd balanced there. "Matthias; he - he said they were

Eduard shook his head at his friend's gullible behaviour. It was so like him to trust everyone before he knew them.

Beside him, Raivis was beginning to shake even more rapidly. "You took them from Berwald," he muttered, in a way that made it impossible to tell whether it was meant for them to hear or not. "You took them fro him, didn't you? You shouldn't have done that. He won't like it."

Tino blinked, going a little pale. Eduard just rolled his eyes. "Raivis, be quiet!" Then he smiled at the other man "Ignore him, Tino. Berwald is a very kind man."

The Finn was sure he was hinting at something, but he chose to ignore it. Especially with Raivis shuddering beside them.

"Which one's Berwald, anyway?" the blond asked, not sure who of the three – Eduard, Raivis and Matthias – had been referring to. What? He'd never had the chance to ask! Though he was pretty sure he knew the name from somewhere…

Eduard shrugged passively. "Tall. Blond. Glasses. Currently without glasses. He doesn't really talk much."

"He's scary," Raivis said a little louder.

"There's nothing particularly defining, to be honest," the Estonian told his friend, ignoring his younger brother's comments. "Not really."

Tino nodded. "So, where can I find this 'Berwald' anyway?"

"Ahm r'ght here."

The Finn jumped, twisting around a little too quickly, so he had to grab a nearby chair to stop himself from falling. Another hand moved to hold his other arm, providing unnecessary support for the small blond.

Two blue eyes seemed to look him over, but Tino wasn't sure whether they had actually move. "Y'u 'lrigh'?" Ah di'n't mean t' scare y'u."

Despite having only seems him once before, he knew exactly who he was talking to. The tall man in the blue overalls stood in front of him, as if he was waiting for Tino to say something.

"N-no," he spoke up after a moment, trying to ignore the fact that Berwald still had a hold of his arm. "You didn't scare me at- at all."

To Tino, it was clear that this was not true. He was almost certain Eduard could see it also. Berwald, however, seemed unable to. Clearly this man couldn't recognise hesitation – or, in fact, emotion – with any ease.

"G'd," he nodded, obviously pleased to see that he hadn't, in fact, startled the Finn. Or, at least, Tino thought that was what it was. The other's man's muscles seemed slacker in his opinion. Not that he was sure the other two had noticed.

_'His eyes are ridiculously blue…' _he thought to himself. Blue was his favourite colour, and he could easily admire the sapphire colouring. _'They really suit him… Make him seem more… human…'_

As he thought it, the blond didn't know himself where that statement had arisen from. Sure, he was bound to notice the colouring – it was like saying an actor had a striking eye colour, or making a passing comment about someone's clothing making them look a little too promiscuous – but the rest of the sentence… He had no idea…

Tino's eyes flickered towards the actual features of the man; their stern nature – teamed with the fact they were directed straight at him – jolted the violet eyed Finn back to life.

It took him a minute to realise why Berwald was holding his hand out.

"Oh…" Tino whispered, flexing his arm. The large hand wrapped around it shifted, allowing him to present the glasses to their owner, who placed them back over his eyes. "S-sorry…" he began to explain. "Matthias…" He trailed off, watching as Berwald's eyes flashed with anger, muscles tightening again.

With his glasses returned to their rightful place, the Swede was looking even scarier than he had those long hours ago, when Matthias (clearly that name was not something to be mentioned) had been gloating about his position. But why did he cause so many problems…

However, it was only a few moments later, that he seemed to almost realise something, his eyes once again falling on Tino, before flickering to the two men behind him. While he wasn't relaxed, something about his expression softened, almost as if a damper had been put over his features.

Tino followed his eyes a moment later, and felt a tinge of colour rushing to his face. Raivis was – once again – causing problems.

By the look of it, the freak-out he was having was pretty much routine, though it was pretty obvious from the look on Eduard's face that his brother could not have picked a worse time to do this.

"Raivis," he complained, sounding exasperated. Embarrassment was clear on his face, as Tino moved away from the tall Swede behind him. "You need to calm down. You don't need to worry. I'm sure Berwald is just annoyed that Matthias stole his glasses. It must be awful for someone to do something like that. Do you remember when Natalya stole Toris' reading glasses all that time ago?"

The Latvian was still stuttering, quaking and shaking on the spot like Tino didn't know what. And it was honestly quite disturbing.

But, later that day, when he had a chance to think back, Tino would make a decision about something he never thought he would. Raivis wasn't the most shocking thing. Berwald was. Berwald and his ability to calmly stand beside someone panicking as much as the Latvian. Berwald and his ability to make everything both terrifying and perfect at the same time. Berwald… and his ability to break Tino's mind, and heart, into a million questioned pieces.

Berwald, who was slowly becoming one of the cogs in the intricate puzzle that was the life of Tino Väinämöinen. But he just didn't know what that meant yet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello readers~ Sorry for the late update, even for me. Luckily, I'm off all of next week, so it shouldn't be too bad. Plus, longer chapter than last time! :D So no worries there.**

**Irunya is the name I use of Ukraine. I have no idea why, and I'm sorry if it bugs you. Just... yes...**

* * *

It wasn't until the next day that anything came of Tino's meeting with Berwald, and of Raivis' freak out. The night before had been filled by celebration, jovial attitudes, and the occasional bit of country-related gloating. And he was glad to be apart of the inner workings, whether he was seen or not.

He was also glad not to have woken up with a hangover, but that was a different story.

Somewhere in the vague forms of his memory, Tino was aware that he had events that afternoon, and would have to get up. He was also aware that he had something else he needed to do today – something pressing and important. But what?

His phone – a Nokia, obviously – buzzed from the bedside cabinet. A shallow huff of breath. This was hell, even without a hangover.

Lying there felt like a lifetime to the impatient blond, but Tino was no one for getting up when he felt like hell. Not when there was no need to. Besides, the text was probably just from Eduard, and he wouldn't mind a late reply…

It buzzed again, but this time kept buzzing. Someone was calling, and as much as he wanted to ignore it, it could be vital. Reaching over to the grab the obnoxious electronics, he glanced at the picture on the screen of four blonds and a brunette sitting in a restaurant, looking slightly tipsy.

Accepting the call, he felt rather cheated out of his morning of half-asleep mumbling. "What?"

There was a pause before Eduard spoke. "You're still in bed."

Okay, he knew he probably sounded pretty bad, but that was a foul shot. "So what if I am. It's, like, eight."

There was another gap. "You sound like Feliks."

Instead of managing to snap 'shut up', Tino just groaned and rolled over. Why was he so cruel?

The Estonian sighed. "Tino, you do remember what we were meant to be doing this morning, right?

The Finn huffed into the pillow, mumbling something that was completely intelligible.

He could practically hear Eduard rolling his eyes.

"You were meant to meet Raivis and I for breakfast. Half an hour ago. Did you really drink that much last night?"

Honestly, even if he was going to answer, Tino wouldn't be able to remember. It all seemed to complicated.

"… No…" he said, after a quick pause. His brain seemed to waking up slightly, but it still took him a minute to process what was being said. "I- … SHIT!"

Snapping upright, the small Finn practically dropped the phone as he ran to get ready.

"Well, nice to see you're finally waking up," the Estonian joked, and Tino was certain that the other man could hear the scrambling noise of socks on carpet, and the banging of draws as he tried to locate some clothing that was both wearable, and not Olympic related. (These were a novelty, as every competition he would be part of, he would be wearing the Finnish uniform.)

"Don't be so sarky," he huffed, pulling on the random jeans that were lying on the floor. The smelt alright, and it was only for a while. It would- it would be fine. "I'll be there in a minute, if you let me finish getting ready."

"A minute? Have fun time travelling, then."

"So not in the mood, Eduard."

There was a laugh from the other end of the line, before a mutter of "whatever you say, Tino," and the line dropping dead. The Finn just rushed around to get what he needed, before shooting out of the door.

He could hardly feel the floor underneath him as he rushed down the stairs. His head was spinning and his stomach seemed to be rebelling against him. Okay, so maybe he'd had a little more to drink than he'd originally thought. That was fine. He could deal with that. It only meant that the sudden jolt of awareness had caused a massive headache and a few other problems.

He knew that opening his mouth would make him feel even worse, but he couldn't help it. So he stuck to muttering to just thinking it.

'_Who's idea was it to meet up this early, anyway?'_

Something told him that it probably his idea, because he was normally the one to organise these things. After all, the other three chose to focus on work more than leisure.

He chose to ignore that something.

"Just blame Eduard," he muttered to himself as the lobby doors swung open. "There's no harm in blaming a semi-antisocial techie for this social mess up." For something that came from his own brain, Tino found the logic remarkably hard to understand.

He was heading towards the little café, half impressed that no one had run into him, and pestered him into doing something which his sleep (and alcohol) addled brain couldn't argue against.

Why had he agreed to this? He still didn't know why they were meeting up, on the morning after the night they were all bound to get drunk. Well, alright, they hadn't planned to get drunk, but they also lived in the Vodka Belt. And by that Tino knew that they had plenty of chances to drink back home, and he new that they always drank plenty. What was the chance of it not happening there, when they always did before hand? Besides, it was part of the stereotype they seemed to conform to. Not that he followed stereotypes, but…

_'No,' _he moaned out loud with his thoughts, _'I don't want political correctness,' _which made little sense outside of his headache addled mind. He was kind and proper, if not a little eccentric and childish. He spoke his mind and spent a lot of time correcting himself – political correctness was often the forefront of his m-

_'What's with the internal monologue?' _he questioned. _'Why am I stuck with this slicing through my brain?'_

In honesty, he couldn't answer. Instead he just decided to attribute it to his eccentricities.

As the little café – which, in all honesty, was more like a canteen which they had dubbed as 'the café' – came into view, Tino split into a run again. Eduard, Raivis, Toris, Felix, Elizabeta, Ivan, Irunya, Berwald… They could all be waiting for him…

Wait, Berwald?

_'That's… insane,' _he told himself with a shake of his head. He'd only met the man twice, and they'd only spoken once; a conversation littered with accusation and Latvian worries. Why would he agree to breakfast?

As the door swung open, Tino was happy to see the place empty bar two tables: one where a group of designers were working on something that obviously wasn't design work; and another which seated a group of blonds and a single brunet.

Eduard gave him a worried, but somehow patronising, look. It was one you'd expect from an older relative, not a younger best friend.

"Good morning," he said, trying to sound cheerful through his pounding headache as he headed towards the coffee machine. He was entirely to thankful to realise that this one wasn't broken.

It took all of three seconds for the group of designers to break down laughing.

"Really, Tino?" Elizabeta giggled. "You're going to pretend that you don't have a hangover? Because you must have drank more than your usual dose."

Tino decided not to ask how she knew his 'usual dose' when they had only just met. He didn't laugh. His just decided that Feliks must have been talking about him, as a smirk crossed his features. Let's see what he remembered of conversation the night before.

"Jealous, Lizzie? I heard that you'd die for a constitution like mine."

The white haired man beside just laughed, as the Hungarian shot Tino a look. "He's right you know, Liz. If he's anything like the other Scandinavians I know, he should be able to drink for everything he's worth!"

The blond frowned, but didn't have a chance to speak before Feliks interrupted. "How do you know he's Scandinavian?"

The other man shrugged. "Pale. Blond. Not much else to say."

Elizabeta rolled her eyes. "So are you, Gilbert, but you're obviously German. What's the real reason?"

His eyes sparked, and Tino recognised something close to a complicated insanity. An idea of thought that grew and became believed.

"Matthias told me about a man he met yesterday," he smirked, keeping his eyes trained on the Finn. "Small, blond, very friendly. Not necessarily innocent, but a bit of a flirt without realising it." Tino willed his cheeks not to go red. "And most important of all – absolutely gorgeous, enough to rival Lukas, as he put it. He said there was no one who could compare to his eyes – blue and purple and silver; gem stones and metal." The German's smirk grew, and Tino couldn't help the burning of his face. Then his tone changed. "But, of course, he was also raving drunk at the time, so it might have been an exaggeration."

Unsure what he was meant to say to that, Tino picked up his coffee and headed towards his friends at the other table. A quick sip of the burning black liquid seemed to quick charge his brain.

"Mind," the German noted in an obviously-fake whisper, "I have to say I agree."

Tino tried and failed not to choke on his coffee. The white-haired man didn't change his expression. Feliks looked rather taken aback. But Elizabeta… She had the best reaction. A hand reached up as if to slap the German male. Instead, it reached around at the last minute, and yanked his head downwards.

"Never," she hissed as a warning, "do that again."

Tino just quickly slipped into the nearest seat, glad to see the others acting normal. Admittedly amused, but still calmer than the designers. "Having fun, Tino?" Toris asked, his usual expression of temperate frustration and annoyance – a look he normally reserved for Feliks – clearly visible.

"Handfuls," he muttered, talking a sip of the scalding caffeine. Oh, that hit the spot. "What about you lot?"

Eduard shrugged from opposite him. "Well, Irunya was explaining to us about Natalya's latest escapade with that American."

The Finn paused, before glancing at the woman in the corner of the booth. "Who; the diver?"

The Russian nodded, picking at the pastry sitting on her plate. Tino felt a little guilty to have missed them. They looked delicious. "Da. His name is Alfred."

Eduard rolled his eyes. "I don't know why she likes him so much. He always sounds so egotistical in those interviews."

Irunya shook her head, looking a little shocked at his bluntness. "No! He's very nice, Ed. Why would you say that?"

This time Toris was the one to jump in. "I'm sure he doesn't mean anything by it, Runya. He's just being snarky, is all."

For some reason, the Russian didn't look too impressed. In fact, she looked sadder. Tino reached over to pat her arm, though at the back of his mind he wondered why she was so upset…

The blonde woman smiled at him, before handing over one of the pastries. Normally he would have turned it down… But he was also starving and they smelt amazing… So there was nothing he could do but accept it. (Well, okay, there was probably _something_ – but he wasn't going to try.)

A rather awkward silence fell over the group as Tino sat and ate the pastry, picking it apart. His mind kept floating back to the group of designers who were chattering on in the background, laughing about something that was making Feliks stutter, while the other members of the table looked cool and casual, if not a little hyper at the same time. Elizabeta sat doodling in her sketchpad, studying whatever was lying on the table in front of her. Gilbert was holding it down, pointing things out and gesturing a little with his hands, tracing whatever he was showing her.

Sadly, it wasn't until someone had called him out on it that Tino realised he was staring.

The Hungarian smiled, in exactly the same way as she did about the rather provocative, distinctly homosexual pictures earlier in the week. Except she looked almost twice as threatening. "Would you like to join us?"

His cheeks heated up. Hesitating slightly, the blond nodded, standing up. He brushed himself off, aware than Danishes tended to leave crumbs everywhere, before going to have a look. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what she was going to show him, and whether he really wanted to know.

On the table was a group of A4 pages, printed in colour to show various photographs of an unnamed couple – as he had guessed, two men. The images, however, could have actually been called 'sweet', rather than 'provocative', like the other images.

One of them was tall and blond, with slicked back hair and military dress. The other was much smaller, almost child-like in his expressions, with a shock of brown hair, and a weird flicked up cowlick. In most of the pictures, the two seemed completely unaware that the pictures were being taken. Tino assumed that they were. They seemed so wrapped up in their own little world. However, there were the odd few that showed all of the signs of having been taken by someone holding the camera at arms length in front of themselves. They looked happy. He couldn't help but smile.

"Isn't it awesome?" the silver-haired man asked, looking all too excited about the pictures.

Tino paused. "That's… ehm… that's awesome," he said, lacking better words.

Gilbert grinned. "Awesome's my middle name," he said with a slight, almost flirtatious wink.

From beside them, the Hungarian spluttered out a laugh. "I thought it was Maria?"

The albino's smirk faltered. "Be quiet, Lizzie," he snapped, before glancing back at Tino. "That's my brother, Ludwig, and his boyfriend, Feliciano."

The Finn nodded, eyes glancing at the page Elizabeta was drawing on. He was pretty sure they were the same characters from before, just a lot more… innocent.

"This one here," Gilbert continued, gesturing to the Hungarian, "she draws people a lot, and she needed some people to take poses of. For anatomy, you know? Well, Feliks and I said we'd do it, but…"

"But I did not need to see those to doing anything like that," Elizabeta finished with a wince, as Tino tried to block the mental image from his mind. "Besides, Feliks already has a boyfriend, and I wouldn't want to break up that relationship."

Tino blinked. "Feliks has a boyfriend?"

The other two laughed, as the Pole dropped his head to the table in front of him.

"Why of course!" Elizabeta giggled. "He was sitting next to you earlier!"

He blinked, before glancing over his shoulder to Toris, who was staring at a wall, obviously trying not to look at this. His cheeks glowed red. Feliks still hadn't lifted his head from the table. Instead, he growled into his arm.

"We are not_. _Dating!" he snapped, followed by a thump as he stomped his foot on the tiles. "We're just friends."

Elizabeta smiled, condescending once again. "Of course you are, dear. We all believe you."

There was another thump from Feliks, followed by a grown from behind him as Toris covered his face with his hands. Eduard gave him a sheepish look, and Irunya chose not to look up. She was brushing crumbs from the table in a disorderly manner that showed her strange practicality when it came to simple messes. (Most likely a side effect of the people she had lived with, though one could never be certain with the Russian.)

Toris stood up, finally shifting a glare towards the other group. For a minute, he looked like he was about to argue, and Tino had to stop himself from flinching. The Lithuanian may normally be quiet and collected, but he had a heart of stone when it came to insults. However, he quickly changed his mind, though the look of contempt did not fade. But so was the dynamic of their relationship; with Toris protecting Felix.

The door chimed open, glass clanging against metal, putting an effective stop to whatever argument could have started. The two workers stepped through, none the wiser to the tension. One looked on with half annoyance, half amusement, while the other was leaping around erratically. But it still took Tino less than a minute to place who they were.

"Problem, ladies?" Matthias laughed, coming to settle on the seat beside Toris – the seat which Tino had previously occupied. "Because you all look perfectly lovely, if I may say so myself." He turned to wink at Irunya, who looked thoroughly scared of this action. Elizabeta laughed.

"Nice to see the muscles can use his brain," she said, her voice holding the barest hint of sarcasm.

The Dane nodded. "Well, obviously. I'm the brainiest of the lot of us."

"Eiríkur, Lukas 'nd me," the gruff voice answered. Tino glanced over at Berwald, shooting him a smile. He nodded in return, something which didn't go unnoticed by the two gossips sitting around him.

Gilbert smirked. "Well, Matthias – looks like you've been beaten on that one."

He laughed. "What's that meant to mean? I'm still better than Berwald, no matter what he says."

There was a thump, but Tino couldn't figure out where it came from. He had a feeling it had something to do with the Swede currently standing behind him.

"I think he may disagree," Elizabeta said, raising one eye towards Tino, who flushed red under the scrutiny. She was looking at him like some prize – like one of her little drawings and photos.

Matthias snorted. "Yeah, well, he still thinks he's better than the rest of us. What he tends to forget is that we're the only friends he has because he-"

There was a sharp _thwack_, and a moan as Matthias bent over, holding the back of his head. "What was _that_ for?" he groaned.

"Bein' daf'," he said simply, pulling on of the chairs over to sit next to Tino, who was finding it harder to not go red for no reason other than Elizabeta's gaze. No reason. No other reason. Not fear over where Matthias' sentence was going. And certainly no fear over the fact Berwald was getting pretty close to him. "Y'u nee' t' learn s'me manners."

Tino bit his lip. Okay, this was so weird. He was pretty sure that these two were close friends, but Berwald was almost acting like he was in charge of the other man; almost like a father, or an older brother. It was weird. But he kind of liked it.

"We should be going," Felix said, making everyone turn to look at him. He didn't look as flustered now, but that could just have been because of time. Obviously, he wanted to take action. Slamming his hands on the table, he turned to the others. "We have to meet Kiku and Francis. Come on."

Gilbert and Elizabeta exchanged a look, but they didn't get a chance to say anything before the Pole had left.

He laughed, while she raised a eyebrow.

"Well then," she muttered. "Looks like we're going to have to leave now."

Gathering up her photos, the remaining group waited the few minutes it took for them to leave, before all turning on Toris, who sighed.

"We aren't dating. You know that. Besides, I'd be more interested in the tomato over there."

When everyone turned in his direction, Tino blinked, before glancing behind him. There was… nobody there. "Which tomato?" he asked with a frown, earning a laugh from the people around him.

Oh.

_Oh._

Now that wasn't very nice.

"_Me_?" he question, a little frustrated. "Why me?"

Matthias grinned. "Well, you are bright red."

* * *

**I hate to do this, but could someone please review? It can even be anonymous. I just have no idea whether people are actually enjoying this or not. .;**


	4. Chapter 4

"B- but… what does this have to do with me?"

The Dane shrugged, an air of insolence surrounding him. "Oh, well, you went bright red when we arrived, so I'm assuming that there's something you want to say to either myself," he gestured at himself, before sighing in a defeated manner and flailing sideways, "or to Berwald."

"I didn't not!" he complained, feeling his cheeks heat up even more. Oh, wonderful. Just wonderful.

"Well, you did when we came to sit down near you…"

Tino coughed, trying to stop himself from stuttering over his words. "N- n- no…"

"Ac'ually, yah did."

He spluttered a little at the sound of Berwald's correction, which was not at all helpful, seen as he had more or less caused the situation by being the mysterious, tall man he was.

_'But not handsome,' _he thought, screwing his eyes shut. _'Definitely not handsome.'_

"No," Tino repeated trying to be a little more assertive. "I didn't."

Matthias shrugged. "Matter of opinion, I suppose." Then he stood up, stretched, and the group gave him a weird look. He had just gotten there, and now he was moving again.

And then he sat down, on the opposite side of Tino, who shuffled back automatically, as the taller man reached out to grab his hand. He gave a striking smile, which to anyone else would probably have seemed attractive, but the Finn was still trying to get over the fact that he was _holding his hands for no particular reason._

Oh this was not going to end well…

"You know…" he started with a wink, "if there's anything you want to tell me, I'm not going to go against you for it."

"I- I have no idea what you're on about."

Matthias shook his head, patting Tino's hands with his fingers. "Now, now, _min kære_," he started, with a look of slightly condescension, "I need to say this, ja? It's important for both of us." He paused, as if waiting for the Finn to say something, but quickly continued before he could. Not that Tino listened. The other man chose to ignore that fact.

"I really wish I knew what you had just called me."

"You see, I know that you have some very important feelings – everyone does, _skat_, it's completely normal, and there is nothing that we can do about that! But we must act on those feelings, or risk loosing our hearts and minds to the world of the damned and depressed – and you don't want to go there; it's all cold and wet and there are dragons, and stuff. So you're going to admit to what you want to say, and I'm going to ask you to dinner, and we're going to be perfectly fine, alr_-argh! _Berwald! Unnecessary pain!"

The Swede had a hold of the spiky blond hair, but appeared to just be holding it there. Yet the Dane was reacting like his usual idiot self, and acting like he was in complete pain.

"Sto' usin' N'rse mythol'gy as an ins'lt," he said sharply, pulling up slightly, and causing Matthias to yelp again. "I's no' very nice."

"Oxenstiernaaaaa! Stop being weirrrrrrd!"

"I'll call Luk's."

Matthias froze, not even twitching as Berwald tightened his grip. "You wouldn't."

"Try m'."

The Dane frowned properly for the first time in their argument (though Tino would be hesitant to call it that; it makes it sound like both sides have an equal chance of winning). Then, he sighed, glancing up at his friend. "Jeg beklager?" Berwald gave him a blank look, before muttering something in Swedish that was all too rapid for Tino to even understand the different words. "Er… jeg elsker dig?"

Berwald still didn't react with kindness, instead just glancing at Tino. Matthias followed his gaze. Annoyingly, the Finn felt himself blush – _'I need to stop doing that.'_

"Hey, Tino…" he heart Matthias begin, before trailing off. "I'm sorry I was such a douche, okay? I didn't mean it. But… I'm not very good with people, you see, and I have a really good reason for why I did it. I mean, I can't tell you the reason, but I did!"

There was a moment where he pulled a face that was obviously meant to look cute and nonthreatening, but only succeeded to make him look about six years old.

Tino blinked, and burst out laughing. Wait, what? No. No, that was not the reaction he was meant to have. He was meant to apologise back for freaking out, or even just accept the apology and more on. Not sit there and giggle to himself!

From the looks the two Scandinavian men were shooting him, they pretty much thought that he had gone insane.

Matthias frowned. "Okay, I don't get it. What's up with him?"

Irunya shook her head, muttering in her strongly accented voice, "I do not know. He does this sometimes. It's very odd, but it's Tino."

The Dane gave her a weird look, but he didn't get another response. She shrugged in confusion. The rest of the group, however, just smiled to themselves.

"Something funny, Tino?" Toris asked with a smile, taking a sip from the cup in front of him.

The Finn shook his head, covering his face in his hands, but leaving a gap for one of his eyes.

"Maybe you should tell us; you know, so we can all know what's so funny?"

Again he shook his head.

There was a groan from Matthias, who jabbed the Finn in the arm. "Come on, dude! I want to know what you're thinking!"

Eduard caught on next, and smirked a little. Still, it was just too like him to get straight to the point. "You don't even know, do you?"

Repeating the same action, even if it was only three times, felt frustrating.

There was the shuffling of a chair, as a pair of arms wrapped around his waste. Tino didn't have to look behind him to know who it was, as Eduard chuckled in his ear.

"Sometimes I wonder whether you always need some persuasion."

There was a pause, where Tino moved his hands down, and glanced at his best friend. What was he on about?

Then he felt it. The fingers on his sides and the jolt of realisation that.

"St- sto- op!" he shrieked with laughter. Tino twitched and twisted himself as he tried to move away from the attack, but… "E- Ed- EDUARD!"

"Will you tell us?" the Estonian asked, laughing towards the end as well.

Tino nodded, squirming even more as his friend moved back, the idea of an imminent attack making him jumpy.

"I- it's just," he began, sounding a little wobbly. Then he coughed, and continued. "You looked so sorry and so pa- pathetic," he shot Matthias an apologetic look, "it was just one of those things that were adorable and hilarious at the same time. Like a kid being caught stealing… I don't know, liquorice or something."

Eduard spluttered slightly. "Liquorice? Really, Tino?"

"I believe the term is 'caught with their hand in the cookie jar'," Toris laughed, as Irunya gave him an odd look, which he was quick to wave off.

Tino pouted. "What? Liquorice is much better than cookies."

"Yes, well, most things are better than your cookies."

The Finn turned his head to glare at Eduard, who just smirked even more.

"There's nothing wrong with my cooking, Eduard," he said quickly, only to receive a wink. Tino stuck out his tongue.

"Now, children, if we can all just behave, that would be wonderful," Toris said quickly, using that condescending tone he only ever reserved for moments where he felt completely comfortable – something that made the Finn feel a little smug, because the normally stressed character had once again managed to calm himself down without copious amounts of medication.

Not that he would say well done, or anything, because that would be more than a little embarrassing.

Of course, exactly when he opened his mouth to make some weird retort, his phone buzzed.

Jumping and scrambling a little as he tried to remember where he'd put it (it had been far too early to create a functioning memory at the time) Tino finally located it in the back pocket of his jeans, which was weird, because he had always promised himself not to put it there.

He didn't check the caller ID before answering.

"Tino, I know this is short notice, but I need you at the stadium _now_."

The Finn blinked, before speaking in quick, happy Finnish. "Why, good morning, Sir! I trust you're alright today?"

His boss grumbled on the other end of the phone. "I will be when you get here. Aanaliisa has called in sick."

"Aana is sick? Is she alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure she's fine, but that means we have to deal with this event and we have no one to cover for it!"

"O- oh! Of course! I take you need me now?"

"Thank you. It's for the tennis, but I believe Miss Nieminen would like to get some practicing done before her match and have plenty of time to warm up, but for that we need someone who can-"

"Alright, Sir! I'll only be a little while. Tell Miss Nieminen that I will be with her soon."

"Thank you, Tino. I owe you one."

"The arena?" he asked quickly, trying to remember what matches the Finnish team were playing today.

"Yes, of course. Thank you."

He felt nothing when the line promptly fell dead, as he slipped the phone back in his pocket and shifted around to face Eduard.

"I have to go and help. One of the others is sick, apparently."

"Hangover, I'll bet," Eduard replied, though Tino ignored it.

Smiling, he headed to the door with a wave. The others said a quick bye as he turned around, the whole of the group knowing the importance that they did as they were told. He did not, however, expect someone to grab his arm.

Spinning to face the tall Swedish man was more than a little disorientating.

"Y'u com'ng t'night?"

Tino blinked. "Erm… where?"

"Back h're. T'night," he repeated, and the Finn bit his lip. Why was this man making him nervous? But at the same time fine? This made no sense.

"Oh, yeah! I think I'm meeting Ed here after we're both finished work and- and I better be going," he said quickly, as the other man's features clouded over angrily. "Because I am going to miss something and oh dear, I better rush. Bye Berwald! Bye guys!"

There was a clang behind him as the door pulled shut. Tino breathed a sigh of relief.

At least he knew whether the Swede would be there tonight.

* * *

**Min kære / skat – my dear / dear**

**"Stop using Norse mythology as an insult" – Denmark/Matthias has just described (vaguely) the Norse idea of Hel, which is (surprisingly) the equivalent of Hell. Instead of it being burning and hot, it was cold and wet. I have no idea if there were dragons (I don't even know where the idea came from) but it seemed a Denmarkish thing to say…**

**Jeg beklager – I'm sorry.**

**Jeg elsker dig – I love you (Denmark is trying to get out of being told off – he's a little bit childish in my headcanon, in more things than just hyperactivity).**

**Aanaliisa – yeah, basically a case of insert a random Finnish name here. This was the first one that popped out. She's neither important, nor necessary, but there you do.**

**Anu Nieminen – a Finnish badminton player. She played a match on the first day of the Olympics (if the website isn't messing up again).**

* * *

**And now I apologise for the lateness, but school is catching up to me, and the holidays lead to even less time to write, unusually. Also, writers block, but I should be fine. However, I am going to spend this weekend dotting between different fandoms other than this one, to refresh my brain a bit, so if anyone wants to leave a prompt or something? It's the least I can do for you reading.**

**Hopefully this semi-rushed chapter will make do for a while.**

**Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews, by the way! They were lovely to read~**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N at the bottom. I don't own these characters - they belong to the wonderful Himaruya~**

* * *

Tino spent the rest of the day acting unusually skittish as he watched the badminton to see what would happen. He had to admit, it was a little boring; the Winter Olympics would have been more interesting to him, simply because he'd grown up playing hockey and ice-skating. But he hadn't expected to be so distracted.

His mind was buzzing, and every time he tried to figure out why, it all came back to one person. Berwald. The mysterious Swede he'd only met twice and didn't want anything to do with. Did want something to do with. Oh, he didn't know! He just wanted a vaguely normal friend for once. One who wasn't anxious or over-emotional or a not-so-closeted online blogger. One who he actually could have a normal conversation with on a regular basis!

Except… That was cruel. He could have a normal conversation with them. Hell, he was an eccentric who doesn't think before speaking! And they accepted him.

That was probably why he liked Berwald so much. He was accepting, and different, and mysterious. As much as he hated himself for it, he had always been attracted to the mysterious guys; especially the ones that were likely to cause him problems. Chances were he only wanted to find out more about the guy, and his stupid body had made him think it was something else.

Yes, that was it. Misinterpretation. Curiosity. That made sense.

The Finn sighed. Why did he agree to do anything tonight? Honestly, he just wanted to sleep. Being in the arena was tiring. You spent your day on the edge, trying to keep yourself ready for the inevitable win-or-loose moment, but you never were.

Tino was pretty much ready to fall asleep right now. It took three checks to remove the typos as his fingers clicked against the screen.

_Hey Ed mind if I skip tonight? I just want to sleep._

There was no reply by the time he pushed the café door open, so it was safe to assume that he wasn't going to get one. Eduard might have been good with computers, but he was not good with people.

He supposed it was lucky that the walk had made him feel a little better. Less sleepy, and more like he could manage. Besides, maybe talking to people would be more helpful, though his whole body said to curl up and go to sleep. He wouldn't be long though. He didn't want to be. The break was all he needed, even with the hectic nature of the canteen as everyone finished their work for the day and chose to indulge themselves before heading for an early night.

The atmosphere was electric, and soon he was just as even-tempered as anyone else in the room.

While he could have just as easily gone back to his room and taken his leave – they all could have – Tino could clearly see why so many people thought this was the better option.

The mix of languages was captivating and headache-inducing. There was an odd moment when he realised that on some of the tables, people would be speaking one language, and then receive a reply in another. Tongues twisted and turned in some intelligible scramble. He couldn't hear himself think, and yet the Finn was enjoying himself more than a little.

And in the corner sat Berwald, silent and nursing a cup of coffee. Long fingers wrapped around the white ceramic. The source of all of his worrying and yet now it seemed so insignificant. Fingernails tapped a tune of impatient waiting, drowned out by the clamour of other people.

"Hej," Tino said calmly, swapping to Swedish as he moved closer to the man. Berwald glanced up, and Tino swore he saw the slightest flicker of a smile, though it also seemed like nothing. "Are the others not here?"

"No," Berwald replied, shifting further along the bench so he would not have to go as far. "They're not coming until later."

Tino's heart sped up slightly. He still didn't know if he wanted to be alone with this man. "O-oh."

Settling opposite, the Finn was surprised to find the mug being offered to him. "No! No, it's fine. I'm alright. Thank you."

"Sure?" he asked, receiving a nod in response. "I've already had mine. This one's yours."

"Mine?"

"Yes. I thought you might need some after the conversation this morning."

"Oh," Tino whispered. His cheeks burned. He hadn't thought anyone understood, except maybe Eduard. "You… You know what I said?"

This time Berwald paused, shifting a little. After another moment, he shook he head. "No. Just looked bad."

Another second of silence, before either thought to speak again.

"Here," Berwald said quickly, pushing the mug towards Tino who had no choice but to accept it.

"Thank you," he replied, a little surprised at the abruptness. As he reached to take it, there was a slight snag as their fingers ended up tangled a little. His heart began to thump for some intelligible reason, and once again Tino cursed the fact that Berwald was so fascinating to him.

But he was still sure there was change in his face. "You're welcome," Berwald said with a nod, lacing his fingers together so his hands were on the table. "So, how was work?"

Tino hummed to himself slightly, neither positive nor negative. "It was interesting. Tiring, though. I've never really enjoyed badminton."

Berwald nodded again, eyes not leaving the Finns. "What do you enjoy, then?"

"Winter."

Automatic. An answer said without thought or notice. An answer that made him groan internally, biting his lip as he regained control.

"I like the winter sports," Tino explained carefully, going to take a sip of the coffee. "Things like badminton… don't hold that much interest…"

"Adrenaline, then."

Tino choked, coughing as he placed the mug back down. "No! No. I'm not- I don't-" There was a break. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to form the sentence. "It's not the adrenaline. I just… I guess I just like winter better than summer…"

Berwald gave a weird little cough, but the Finn was almost certain was more akin to laughter than actual coughing.

"Hey! Shut up," he responded with a mock glare. "Otherwise I'll show you the sport I really like."

"Oh?" Berwald replied, leaning in a little closer. "Are you going to tell me what that is?"

Licking his lips, Tino contemplated it for a second. Okay, bringing it up didn't seem like such a good idea. What is he thought he was a violent fiend?

"Shooting," he said slowly, eyes fixing on the coffee left in his mug. "I like shooting. Rifles mainly. My dad… he didn't hunt himself, but there was this archery thing going on at one point, and once he saw my aim… I guess I just enjoy feeling like I have some form of power. And besides, I've always been a sniper. I have since I was a lot younger…"

"Can't be much younger," the Swede replied with a shrug. "You're… what? Can't have been an adult long…"

Tino did his best not to let his mouth fall open. Of all of the things he picked up on, that was it? None of the fact he favourite sport was violent and deadly, but his age?

"I'm twenty," he said, quietly and carefully, "so it's been a good few years…"

For the next few minutes, neither spoke. The silence was not as terrifying as the first few, but perplexing. Though it would have helped, Tino couldn't look away from the blue eyes that seemed to stare straight through him. In fact, he was glad when someone knocked Berwald on his shoulder, trying to grab his attention.

As the Swede turned around, Tino sighed. Mysterious people were annoying. And by the looks of things, he may have more to deal with.

* * *

**I have nothing to say but sorry, for the late update. It's been far too long, but due to personal problems, all of my muses died. And I mean all of them. First just the romance ones, then my Finland muse, then all of my non-Hetalia roleplays fell through. And then my ability to talk with people in the OOC…**

**If you want to know, just ask. It's not anything bad, just thought consuming. But it's over now, so hopefully updates should be quicker. Besides, it's only a few more weeks of school, so that should make updates easier!**

**Sorry it's so short, as well. I got my muse back on Wednesday, and only had a few hours to write until today, so this was all done in English class, while I was meant to be watching Romeo and Juliet, and today, while I was meant to be doing coursework. So sorry for the quality.**

**Also, if anyone has anything they want to see, just tell me! I'd love to hear them. I know where this is going, but the extra little bits would be wonderful, if you lot want to see anything.**


End file.
